The Crimson Stone
by aCra RoX
Summary: A story about how a teenage girl discovers that she somehow has a unique power that might just save the world from the famous T-virus. With the help of a C.I.A agent, Leon S. Kennedy who comes to save her. Can they survive such nightmare? -COMPLETED
1. Prologue

Hi! First of all, I want to say that I personally do not own any Resident Evil related materials in this story. They inspire me, honestly. I came up with the character Charlie Evans and I hope I did well in blending it with the RE genre. Haha. So I hope all of you will enjoy my story. Please review so that I'll know that I have readers. And who knows, maybe I'll even continue the story better. (P.S: I redo my whole story from the beginning since I lost the files for the next chapters. I remade my story to what I hope is better.) Enjoy! =p

PREFACE

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to find out something inapplicable to accept? Something so shell shocking yet it made you feel braver than ever? There was once a physicist who said that to every force, there is another opposite force acting upon it. Same goes to life. To everything we do, there is always a counter response to it. Whether it is bad or good, it doesn't matter. But there always is a reply to everything we do.

It is none other than fate that will determine which side will win, and which side will lose. However, there will always be two forces acting against each other. Like the positive and negative charges of a magnet, like the hero and villain in your average comic book. But in real life, it does not have to happen like that. Sometimes the positive charge becomes negative. Sometimes the villain regrets and gives in.

Therefore, impossible is indeed an unacceptable word in this case. This is because, no matter how brilliant you are, you will never know what is going to happen next. You can never flip through the pages of your life beforehand. All you can do is to accept that the truth of everything around you can be as traitorous as it gets. This is because the world works really funny at times. One slip of reality can tip you off your feet. Well, here is a story about how I learnt my past and how it changed my future…


	2. Ordinary life?

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 1

KRRRIIING! The bell in Raymark City High school went off. The hallway was literally pouring with students not a moment to soon after the final bell of the day rung, signaling that school was over.

"Move over!" exclaimed a girl in her heels as Charlie was about to exit her classroom.

Without having to wait for her action, the girl immediately shoved her aside causing Charlie to bump into some other students who swore off at her.

Out in the hallway, it was packed as usual. Students were gathering and shouting at each other. Charlie had to bump into several others students on her way to the main door, so she could exit the hell hole called high school.

Out on the pavement, Charlie straight away headed home. She was deliberately annoyed and not just that, but hate her high school. It's full of rich stuck up snobs, who have no sense of humanity. At least that's what she thinks.

**Back home…**

The dark night sky was filled with shining stars. The moon was all a glimmer. But the sight of the beautiful sky only come in once in a while since storms and heavy downpours keeps coming to the small, average Raymark city which is located by the sea.

Sitting by the window, Charlie glared up at the night sky, her ocean blue eyes captivated by the beauty of the starry sky. The view of it was already enough to inspire her even though she had had a rough day. It cleared her mind. However, her peace wasn't long until-

"Charlie! We're leaving now!" shouted her Uncle Ben from downstairs. Since her parents died, she was living with her aunt and uncle which are surprisingly still young. Try twenty-six.

"I still can't believe you're leaving me with a baby sitter" Charlie said as she went down the stairs to the front door to bid her dear aunt and uncle good bye.

"Well, we can't possibly leave you alone now can we? Besides, Mrs. Appletone is a great sitter. You guys will get along fine." Aunt Trudy said. And she is like the hottest married aunt around. She has a slender figure with wavy brunette hair that suits her figure perfectly.

"It's just a two night trip kiddo. If you need us our-

"Cell phone numbers is drilled into my head or if I did had amnesia or something, is taped to the fridge." Charlie said cutting her Uncle's sentence.

"Well, that's good. Take care kiddo!" Uncle Ben said and messed up her hair playfully.

"Good bye Charlie. Take good care of yourself." Aunt Trudy said as she hugs Charlie.

"Be nice to Mrs. Appletone, and take care of the house. And I mean No Parties."

Aunt Trudy continue saying as she walk to the parked car.

"Like I'll have one. FYI my social life is down the drain, remember?" Charlie said back.

"Haha! Told you she has a great sense of humor." Uncle Ben pointed out to Aunt Trudy.

"Ugh, whatever! In the car, Ben." Aunt Trudy said annoyed of course.

With the final wave of good bye, Charlie finally closed the front door. She craned her neck as she said "Home alone I guess. For now,"

She headed upstairs towards her room.

**An hour later…**

"Ting-tong!"

"Oh, that must be Mrs. Appletone," Charlie said just as she was thinking that maybe Mrs. Appletone wasn't coming at all. Forgot the address maybe?

She went downstairs and opened the door to greet the sweet old lady who's going to be her sitter for the next two nights.

"Hi, you must be Mrs. Appletone. I'm Charlie," Charlie greeted her. "Oh, my baby!"

And she scrunched Charlie into a killing hug.

"Well you don't have to worry about being home alone since I'll be here to take care of you!" Mrs. Appletone said after releasing Charlie from her death hug.

"Well that's great. Say, let me give you a tour of the place so you could make yourself a home," Charlie said slightly panting as she was recovering from the death hug.

"Owh, that's great now dear," Mrs Appletone replied with a sweet smile.

"Right this way..."

**In Charlie's room…**

While Charlie was working on her English assignment which is titled 'The Sight of the Death', she heard something crashed outside. More like a car crash. So she went to her window to check it out. And what she saw outside weren't pretty at all. At first she taught it was a parade for a zombie theme or something. But even a parade won't set her whole neighborhood in fire.

"I got to find Mrs. Appletone," Charlie said to herself and headed to her room door.

Just as she opened her door she heard the sound of flesh being torn apart accompanied by a nasty growl like the one she heard from the movie 'Alien Vs Predator' but more realistic.

Instincly, she dropped to her knees and crawl to the top of the stairs to peek downstairs.

Charlie gasped at the sight of Mrs. Appletone, all ripped open and was able to see all systems spilling out with a zombie eating it.

The zombie looked up towards her but she wasn't fast enough to dodge his stare. Soon the sound of moaning is heard and foot steps as the zombie ascended the stairs towards her.

Panicked, Charlie got up and ran to her room and locked it. Without thinking she grab her backpack and fill it with a torch light, her cell phone and her trusty BB gun she got from camp last year. She was then prepared to escape.

By now the zombie must be at the top of the stairs. Charlie rushed out and quickly shot the zombie with her BB gun in the eye but it kept moving forward with his hands stretched out ready to strangle her. She sprinted to her store room upstairs and locked the door behind her. There was a vent in the room that somehow led outside. Charlie knows this after some of her childhood experience exploring this house. She quickly climbs up into the vent and closes it back as the zombie banged at the locked door.

She crawled all the way to where the garbage disposal tube was and slid down it. To get there she had to pass several giant rats that were just too disgusting to even think about it in the vent. As she slid down the tube she prayed that she'll land on something soft down there. Lucky her she landed on a pile of garbage aside from the glass bottle root beers in it, it was a safe place to land. She jumped out of the dumpster and called the police on her cell but strangely, no one picked up. She tried again a few times, but still, no one picked up. Something fishy is up. And she had to find away to get help.


	3. The Agent

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 2

'…Unfortunately not much survive the terrors that befall the once ever peaceful Raymark City. It is reported that a lot of the people of Raymark City has been poisoned by a source that is still unknown as to how they were turned in zombies. Not only are they mindless, but they also practice cannibalism which causes quiet a number of lives. Will history repeats like that of the Raccoon City incident eight years ago? We were told that the government has made a move to demolish this problem. But how long can we last before-….click.'

"Damn it," muttered Leon S. Kennedy as he switches off the TV. He just finished showering and was still in his towels when his communicator beeped.

Leon picked it up and a picture of a woman in spectacles appears.

"Hello, Leon. I'm guessing you already know why I beeped you. We need you at the headquarters straight away" said the woman.

"Yes, I've heard about it. I'm on my way." Replied Leon and he shut off his communicator.

**At the BSAA headquarters...**

Tia, who beeped Leon earlier, was already waiting in the weapons room when Leon arrived. On the table lay the weapons that BSAA had supplied for Leon.

"Since you already know the background story of this case, I'll just inform you on what you need to do," said Tia.

"The BSAA has detected similar virus that attacked Raccoon City eight years ago in Raymark City. However we need you to find out what is the source that's causing all of this havoc and report back to us instantly. We already sent out Alpha and Gamma team out there to rescue any survivors that are still out there," said Tia as she turns to look at Leon.

"And yes, we also need your specialty to stop it."

"I see," said Leon after a short moment.

"The usual weaponries are being handed to you," Tia said as she motions them on the table. Leon was already equipping his weapons.

"Since the city is located by the sea, you'll travel there by our special Ski-boat. And if you need any help just call for backups. It's already programmed in you communicating device. We'll try to get to you a.s.a.p"

"Okay, I guess I'll go now," Leon said as he turned to leave.

"Good Luck Leon" Tia said.

Leon just chuckles. "Thanks. I think I'll need more than just luck to survive another hell of adventure." And walks out the door ready to gain more hellish memories that could leave him nightmares for months…..again.

**Back to the suffering teenager…**

Charlie was panting heavier and heavier as she sprinted from one location to another to keep herself undetected by the zombies. Aside that, she was getting phobia just by seeing bodies being eaten and torn apart. She will constantly see body parst lying on the ground as she maneuvered herself to different locations.

As she was climbing up one of the emergency ladder at the side of a building she accidentally slipped and crashed down on some dust bins. The group of zombies that were feasting on a body nearby turned to her and started to head towards her. Charlie quickly runs to nowhere at all as she was seriously freaked out.

As she was running around, she was attracting more and more people along the way.

"Help!" She eventually shouted spilling her fear out.

**Back to Leon…**

He got out of the boat and silently made his way into the city, with his hand gun fully loaded. As he was walking in the city, he heard someone screamed. He quickly headed towards it. He saw a girl running for her life in the distance with a hoard of zombies chasing her from the back.

Quickly checking his map on his Communicating device he quickly found an intersection to where the stampede were heading. That way he could grab the girl out of harms way.

**Charlie…**

"I am seriously going to die," Charlie said to herself as she was running from the hoard of zombies.

"Oh, God please! Not this way!" she said as she looked back into those mindless eyes of the zombies. They were faster in groups than individually.

Charlie then saw an alley to the right. She made a sharp turn leaving the zombies to loose their balance at the sudden turn and went straight ahead.

"Must hide, must hide, and must hide!" she thought to herself urgently.

Suddenly out of nowhere, someone grabbed her backpack and pulled her into a small hidden alcove in the alley wall.

When she was about to scream, which was stupid considering the fact that it'll attract more zombies, the particular person closed her mouth with his hand.

"Shhhh, don't worry. I'm a BSAA agent."

Charlie's heart beat started to slow down upon hearing that statement. She was safe! At least she thought so.

After the hoard of zombies has long passed them and out of sight, the agent finally released her. Out in the alley way, Charlie said,

"Hey thanks man. I thought I was going to get slaughtered by those zombies. I'm Charlie by the way."

"Have you seen any other survivors?" asked Leon.

"Unfortunately, not. I have been the only one sane so far.

"I'm Leon Kennedy here to escort you to safety. Firstly are you alright?"

"Well aside from some cuts and bruises from being chased by zombies, yes. I guess so."


	4. BB Gun

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 3

"Where are we going?" Charlie asked as she was practically dragged by Leon from one hiding spot to another. His grasp on her wrist, never ease.

"Can you keep it down please? I don't want them to see us, incase you haven't notice." Leon whispered harshly.

"Well maybe if you answered my question earlier, I wouldn't be such a fuss." Charlie replied back in a harsher tone.

"Sorry, then. But please be good so I can save you." He apologized curtly, so that he can shut her up.

Surprisingly, it worked. His sudden apology surprised Charlie. She never said a word since and begun sprinting with him more confidently.

Unfortunately, as they made a sharp turn to one of the deserted streets, the same pack of zombie which they outrun earlier, spotted them. And as usual, they sprinted towards them at a hell of a speed.

Their actions alone knocked the breath out of Charlie. In her mind, she was so petrified and already foreseeing her death. She knew one of her fears is being chased head on. She can't run fast. She knew she was a slow runner. She wasn't going to survive this!

Before she could predict her death any further, Leon grabbed her by the arm and started running to an intersection of the street. It was hard for Charlie to keep up with Leon's pace. No way, her lame, out of shape legs can match his long lean and muscular (she guessed) legs. But fear enough got her adrenaline running wildly so her running was faster than ever before. They turned left into an alley way.

Suddenly Leon stopped as they reached a fire escape of the building their running next to a little too abruptly which caused Charlie the bump into him from behind. Hard.

"OOuf! Hey, why are we stopping?" Her words came out ragged between gasps. Charlie bent down to rest her hands on her knees.

"Quick! I'll give you a boost since the ladder is up. Go up there, to the rooftop and take cover. I'll come back later." Leon said urgently.

"But what about you?" She asked.

"Just go. I'll tell you later." Leon replied offering his hand to give her a boost.

Without wasting any time, Charlie quickly followed his orders.

Leon quickly continued sprinting the second Charlie was up. "RUN! Before they see you!" He shouted as he ran, distracting the hoard of zombies away from Charlie. He knew that Charlie wouldn't be able to run with him all the way. So, he needs to get rid of this ridiculous fast zombies first before coming back to get her.

He had to cross several obstacles in the way as he ran. They were many crashed cars upon the quiet street. The only sound came from Leon's boot as he ran and the hoard of mindless zombies not far behind him. The situation looked so much the same as the Raccoon City incident eight years ago. It was as if he was relieving his nightmare.

At the end of the street he could see a movie theatre across the road. If he could lead the zombies into the theatre and finish them off with a hand grenade, would be perfect. Considering the fact that the inside of movie theatres are mostly covered with soft materials to absorb the sound of the explosion. Therefore, it will decrease the chances of attracting other zombies toward Leon as he escape.

Leon sprinted across the road and entered the theatre. In it, he quickly took cover behind the candy bar. As he neared it, a straw box suddenly flew right at his face, but he was quick to dodge it.

"Stand back!" a man shouted as he held the cash register above his head, ready to throw it next.

"Sir, calm down. I'm not infected by the virus these zombies carry with them." Leon explained smoothly.

The middle-age man about late forties relaxed, and lowered the cash register. The sound of moaning was then heard and Leon pulled the man down under the counter.

"I need you to be quiet as I deal with this. Cover your ears if you have to and follow my lead so we can escape this." Leon whispered urgently.

The man nodded in agreement.

It was silent now, nothing but the sound of those deathly moaning and growling. Leon peered at the zombies from the side of the counter. They're in the main lobby now. But how does he get them to go into one of the movie halls.

He searched the area for something. A metal pop corn scooper lay next to him. Leon grabbed it and readied himself to throw it into one of the opened doors leading into one of the halls. With a fast and accurate throw, the scooper flew into the air and while still in mid-air; Leon shot it to cause noise to attract the zombies. Luckily, it worked! Soon the whole lot of the zombies went pouring into hall 2, hungry for their next victim.

Leon quickly rushed out of his hiding spot once all of them were in and sprinted towards the hall door with a grenade in hand. He pulled the pin and threw it as far back of the movie hall. Leon then quickly closed the door and blocked it off with a 'no smoking' metal sign just in time before the grenade exploded. The door rattled wildly in front of Leon as the explosion went off. And the moaning stopped. Silenced.

"Finally," Leon muttered under his breath.

Leon signaled for the man to run out the door. And soon they were both sprinting out of the movie theatre and went as far away from there, back towards the deserted street Leon came from. They found a pawn shop at the end of the street, and went in.

The bell above the door tinkled as they entered the shop. It was empty.

"Quick, cover the glass window so that they can't see us," Leon said to the man as he headed to the back room to check if it's clear of zombies or not. The back room was clear, so Leon locked and blocked the only back door.

"How can I ever repay you for your help," the man said as Leon entered the front of the shop.

"No problem. But listen, there's a girl I left of earlier. I need to go get her. Can you manage for yourself while I'm gone?"

"Yeah, sure I guess with these" the man said as he took out two guns from a drawer.

"And by the way, I'm Jeff Acker," the man introduced himself.

"Leon S. Kennedy," Leon said as he exited the shop.

**Back at Charlie…**

Charlie watched as Leon ran away with the hoard of zombies close behind him. She was almost on top of the fire escape. Knowing that a zombie will spot her any moment now just by standing there, she tried to lift open the window behind her.

"Ugh, damn it's stuck," she muttered under her breath as she attempted to open the window.

There's no other way, she has to get in from the rooftop. So she continued up the fire escape and vaulted over the small gate on top.

The rooftop was gratefully deserted. The place was completely littered. Beer bottles were everywhere. It looked like someone threw a party.

Suddenly, from the corner of Charlie's eyes she saw a leg twitched from behind an overthrown sofa. Charlie quickly took cover behind a trash can. Or at least she tried to since she tripped on the way and knocked down the trash can instead.

"Oh, no." she squeaked as she landed.

Moaning was then heard and no sooner than that, the zombie crawled out from behind the sofa and stood up revealing that she was a girl in a tank top and a mini skirt. Within minutes, she was already ready to attack.

Without wasting time, Charlie got up and ran away from her. The zombie, who ran really fast managed to knock down Charlie as she ran and toppled on top of her. She fell right on her back at the edge of the rooftop. One push is all it takes to kill her as she falls down the eight level building.

The zombie's head was just inches away from Charlie's head. She was desperately struggling to avoid the zombie from biting her.

"Aargh! Get off me!" Charlie screamed as she used every ounce of her strength to kick the zombie off of her.

She managed to do just that and the sound of bones broken could be heard as the zombie hit the pavement below. Charlie quickly got up and shuddered as she looked at the scene.

"Gross." She said

She then headed towards the door leading to the staircase. Unfortunately, another zombie sprang from behind the door, and knocked her down. The zombie barely grabbed her neck but instead scratched it. This time, she managed to shove it to the side. She ran to one of the corners of the rooftop, a plan forming in her mind as she ran.

The zombie too got up, and chased Charlie to the corner where she did a sharp U-turn and took out her BB gun. The zombie who tried to copy her move only managed a subtle brake and turned around to face her.

The second it turned around, Charlie shot it twice right in the eye. It staggered backwards and Charlie quickly ran to it, giving a firm kick on the chest which sent it falling down the corner of the building.

**Back to Leon…**

THUD, THUD, THUD, were the sound of Leon's boots as he ran back to the fire escape he left Charlie at. He just hoped that she was fine. After all he only left her for almost fifteen minutes, top. As he reached the fire escape, he quickly climbed the few set of stairs to the top.

With his gun raised in front of him, he was ready for any surprise attack. He started searching for Charlie. The place looked pretty deserted. But who knows, anything can be lurking around here. He walked further to the front as he eyed the torn sofa suspiciously. Slowly he maneuvered himself to the side of it so that he can get a clear shot. As he was about to do so, something moved.

"HA!" Charlie shouted as both of them aimed at each other's face in unison. Leon was first to lower his gun.

"Hey, easy there kid," he said.

"Oh, Leon. Thank god it's you." Charlie said as she too lowered her gun.

"Are you okay?" Leon asked as he crouched down next to her.

Leon eyed her neck. There were really red scratch marks on her neck. Charlie noticed where he was looking and defensively covered her neck.

"Oh this, this is nothing. Two zombies attacked me, and one of them got the liberty to leave a mark," she replied.

"And where are they? I don't see any bodies lying around here."

"I could only managed to throw them off the building,"

"Good job," Leon said as he got up and offered a hand.

Charlie took his hand and started to keep her gun back in her backpack.

"Where did you get that?"

"Oh, this? It's my trusty BB gun. I won it at a BB gun championship. But it doesn't kill any zombies though. Just kind of slow them down."

"So, you can handle a gun well?"

"I guess,"

"Let's go, I found a survivor."

They both started heading towards the fire escape.


	5. Quick Disappearance

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 4

"Acker, open up. It's me, Leon," said Leon as he banged lightly on the front door of the pawn shop. The front door seemed to be blocked by something heavy.

A sound of furniture being moved was heard not soon after Leon called out for Jeff and the door of the pawn shop opened.

"Sorry, I got protective after a few air head zombies tried to break into here when you left," Jeff said as he ushered Leon and Charlie into the shop.

"Good to know that you managed," replied Leon as he took out his communicator.

"Leon, what's up?" Tia said as her face appeared on the screen.

"I found two survivors, a man in his forties and a teenage girl. I need a transport to get them out of here," Leon said.

"Got it. A chopper will be sent immediately. I'll let you know where it'll meet you. But for the time being, keep them safe and yourself of course," Tia replied.

"Roger that," Leon said as he switched off his communicator.

Leon paused to look at both Charlie who was sitting on a sofa and Jeff who was leaning against the wall before saying,

"It looks like it's going to be a while before the chopper comes to get you both since we'll have to wait until the sun rises,"

"Wait, aren't you coming along with us too?" Charlie asked with skepticism clear on her face.

"I, have business to do here, kid." Leon answered as he took out his handgun to reload its bullets.

"Who do you work for, Kennedy?" asked Jeff asked in a standard manner.

"I work for the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance or BSAA in short form," replied Leon curtly.

"Hmm, impressive," said Jeff.

"Well, I never heard of it before," said Charlie disappointedly.

"It was newly formed a few years ago. Forgive me for not asking earlier, but what is your name, girl?" asked Jeff.

"My name is Charlie. Charlie Evans," replied Charlie politely.

"Are you by any chance related to Joshua Evans, then?" Leon interrupted.

Shocked by his question since it was quite out of the blue, Charlie replied weakly, "Yes. He was my father. But he passed away when I was still a baby. Have you met him before?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. And no, I haven't. I've only heard of your father before. He worked under the Special Tactics and Rescue Search, STARS for short. He was a legend as he once saved a in Africa due to the T-virus that was infecting the area at the time. He was a hero, kid." Leon explained apologetically.

It was shocking news for Charlie to head that since her mother never once mention to her that her father was a cop from the upper unit. A legendary upper unit cop as a matter of fact. All this time she thought her father was just a normal cop. She never tried to push her mother into telling her about her father as her mother was sensitive about the particular topic. But instead, Charlie just smiled and said,

"Yeah, I know he was."

**A few hours later…**

While everyone was asleep, Leon went to check the window. It was getting brighter outside. It was then, that his communicator beeped.

"Leon, the chopper is already circling the perimeter of the city. Find a clearing and let us know when you're there. The chopper will come and get you," Tia spoke through the communicator.

"Roger that," Leon replied.

Right at that moment, Charlie woke up from the sofa she was sleeping on.

"Leon, where is Jeff?"

Alerted, Leon turned to look at where Jeff was sleeping a minute ago. However, he was not there anymore.

"What the-" Leon was cut short when the back door burst open and zombies came sprawling in like insects.

"Leon!"

"Quick, get behind me and try to unblock the door!" said Leon as he shoots the zombies one by one in the head.

Charlie did as she was told. However, the crate Jeff used to block the door was slightly difficult for Charlie to push since it was heavy. But determined not to die in the pawn shop, she gave in her best effort to push the crate out of the way, and luckily she succeeded. They backed out into the streets which unfortunately have more zombies.

When Leon was done shooting the zombies from the shop, he quickly motioned for Charlie to run with him in a direction. They ran down the streets as more mindless zombies burst out of shop windows, cars alongside the streets and even from alleys.

"AARGH!" Charlie screamed as one of them grabbed a hold of her shirt.

"Duck!" Leon warned as he turned around and shot the zombie's head.

Charlie ducked just in time, and she was eventually free from the zombie's grasp. She quickly ran to catch up with Leon.

"Thanks," Charlie said breathlessly.

Leon led them to the beach and immediately contacted the chopper.

"This is Leon, requesting back up!"

Not long after that the sound of the chopper was heard, hundreds of zombies arrived at the beach.

"This is Curtis, I would like you take cover, Leon," The pilot's voice beeped trough Leon's communicator and the chopper started shooting the enemies with its mini guns.

"Now, that's what I call back up," Leon replied.

Leon and Charlie quickly ran to find cover. There was a boulder at the edge of the water. And it was just enough to cover them from Curtis's turrets. Fortunately, it was effective. Most of the zombies got blast off quickly. The boulder vibrated several times as the zombies who tried to get to Leon and Charlie climbed it and got shot by the turrets.

A few minutes later, silence filled the once disastrous battle field. Blood was everywhere, dead bodies lay sprawled in piles of mess on the beach. Leon and Charlie came out from their hiding place as soon as the coast was clear.

"Climb aboard, people." Curtis spoke as a rope ladder dropped down from the chopper.


	6. False Hope

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 5

In the chopper, Leon and Charlie were instructed to wear a life jacket as they were traveling above water. Charlie was feeling out of sorts due to the experience she had. She was also really worried about her aunt and uncle's condition. What she just witnessed was way beyond anything that she could have imagined happening to her. Her mind and body was still finding it hard to digest what she just went through.

As Charlie was lost in her thought, Leon said to Curtis,

"Thanks for the back up,"

"No problem. It was quite fun actually. And glad that you're still alive," Curtis said from the cockpit.

As they flew, the chopper's radar detected a missile coming in their direction.

"We got a problem, Leon. There is a missile coming at us," Curtis said frantically.

The chopper swerved sharply causing Charlie to lurch forward in her seat. However, there was another missile coming in at 3 o'clock of the chopper.

"Curtis, get out!" Leon shouted at Curtis as he grabbed Charlie who was is shock and jumped out of the chopper on the opposite door.

"Oh… my…-"Curtis stuttered as the missile came in contact with the chopper.

'BOOOM!' The chopper exploded with Leon and Charlie escaping the explosion just in the nick of time. The remnants of the chopper dropped along with them as they plunged into the sea below.

In the water, Charlie was still in shock therefore she didn't move a muscle. With her eyes closed, she felt empty in the water as if there were nothing else left to do for her to do except remain still. She found the buoyancy of the water intimidate her somehow. She felt at peace until someone groped her body.

Her eyes flew open and she saw that it was Leon. He was fumbling with her life jacket as if searching for something. He eventually found the pin to inflate the life jacket and gave it a tug. She then felt her body float towards the water surface just as her lungs burnt for oxygen.

Leon managed to get Charlie and himself onshore. This is due to Charlie's body that became numb from the impact of the fall from the chopper. Therefore, her body just lay unmoved in the water until Leon swam them to the shore.

"Charlie, are you ok?" Leon asked as he lay her down on the sand.

Charlie opened her mouth to speak but she only managed a weak nod. Her whole body felt as if it has been slapped a dozen of time. After all, she didn't really drop in the water aerodynamically. Her arms, her thighs, her everything felt sore to the bones.

Leon, who felt like they are too out in the open, promptly scanned the area of the beach swiftly. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a piece of flesh which looked like a human's hand smeared with blood.

"Come on, we got to make a move fast," Leon said as Charlie got up into a sitting position.

Charlie got up with the help of Leon and the two of them started to head towards the woods. They walk fast and as silently as possible to avoid any unintended attraction. As they went deeper in the woods, they eventually found a small cave in between a few large rocks. The cave was however located near the main village ahead.

They went into the cave to take a break. Just then, Leon's communicator beeped.

"Leon, are you alright?" Tia asked worriedly.

"Yes, thank you. The girl is alright too although a little washed out. However, Curtis… he wasn't that lucky," Leon replied.

"Yes indeed. He was one of our best pilots."

"Listen, there's a village nearby from where we are. I was thinking of heading into it to find some information and hopefully some food and water. The girl is really not in good condition right now,"

"I can imagine. Ok, but be careful Leon. And while you're at it, I'll try to find a rescue team for you,"

"Alright. Over and out." Leon said as he closes his communicator.

Charlie was leaning against one of the rocks when Leon asked,

"Think you'll be alright here alone while I go check out the village?"

"I guess so. It seems safe enough." She replied.

"Well here, take this." Leon said as he handed her a GPS system in the shape of a ring.

"What is it?" Charlie asked as she took it from him.

"It's a GPS system. In case we get separated, I can track you down," Leon explained.

"Sounds good." Charlie replied and gave Leon an amiable smile.


	7. Kidnapped

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 6

To get to the village, Leon had to go up a winding path. A shed was located along the path. Inside it, Leon found several typewritten notes. And one of them said,

'_It has been informed that Lord Steax's first batch of army is the villagers of this La Giga Island. They are the test subjects of type 1. They were infected through radiation. This type 1 zombie looks and acts humanely. However, once it detects a flaw in anything at all,, it will act like barbarians. Its eating habits are becoming more and more cannibalism-like. However, this kind of behavior is indeed needed by Lord Steax's actions. After all, he created them.'_

"Hmm… I wonder what actions they might be," Leon wondered to himself as he continued further up the path.

Leon was on the out skits of the village now. He zoomed in on the villagers using his mini binoculars. He could see that the villagers were acting rather normally. For instance, there was a man cleaning up hay and a woman milking a cow near one of the barns. It was exactly like what the note said.

He took this as an advantage for him. As long as he walks into the village casually and does not bump into any of them, he is pretty much safe. With that in mind, he walked in the village. As suspected, the villagers didn't attack him nor mind his presence. Leon kept walking on, sneaking into houses one by one.

Eventually he came across a house which differs to the others. It was grander than the others. He peered through the window and saw that it was a security room, filled with computers. There were two type 1s in it however.

Leon climbed through the window slowly and did a stealth attack on both of the zombies by breaking their necks. There was one thing that Leon learnt from his zombie days, is that a zombie's weak spot is its head.

Leon quickly went over to the computer and began searching through the data. Through it, he learnt about Steax's whereabouts which is the castle in the middle of the island. He also downloaded the blueprint of the castle into is communicator. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes he saw Charlie on one of the computer screens on the wall. She was still in the cave until three Type 1s entered the cave and ambushed her from behind. Charlie was seen struggling to break free from their grasp until one of them put a cloth around her mouth until her body went limp. And she was then taken away.

"Shoot," Leon muttered under his breath and quickly started heading back to the cave.

The village was suddenly quite when he came out of the house. Too quite. He noticed that everyone was gone. Without wasting any more time, Leon headed back to the Cave. But before he got to the path he went through earlier, he was ambushed by the villagers. There were a lot of them. A few of them were equipped with weapons such as axes and rakes while the rest had their arms stretched forwards and just look really pissed.

Leon managed to dodge as axe one of them threw at him. He then made a run for it as he went passed them and went down the path. It was impossible for him to take them all down. Rather than wasting his ammo, he rather play run and hide. He checked his communicator as to where Charlie is, and saw that she was taken towards the castle.

"What is it with villains and castles?" he said to himself as he made his way to it.

**In the castle…**

Charlie opened her eyes and realized that she was lying down on a cold floor. She was somehow locked inside this small prison with hay strewn on the floor. Charlie got up and examined her surroundings. She was definitely in some kind of dungeon. There were several torches that are hung to the stone wall to illuminate the area.

"Where am I?" Charlie wondered to herself.

There was a guard in front of her cell with his back facing her. He didn't seem to notice that Charlie was awake. Dangling on his hips was a ring of keys.

"One of them has got to open my cell door," Charlie thought to herself as her brain began constructing ideas as to how she can get a hold of the keys.

She finally chose to sneak on the guard. As she took her steps slowly at a time, her heart beat with fear. She was half way there when the guard gave out a menacing sound, like a dog growling. Charlie stopped in her tracks, sweat trickling down her back. It was then that she realized that he was actually coughing. She quickly went behind him and crouched down. Her hand reached the ring of the keys and her fingers slowly grasped around it. As she was pulling it out, another guard opened the dungeon's door.

Lucky for her the other guard couldn't see her as she was hidden from his view by crouching behind the guard, who was quite big.

"Eckhard, the Lord summons you," the guard said and he turned around and left.

Eckhard, the bigger guard immediately walked towards the dungeon door, the ring of keys slipping of his belt easily since Charlie was still holding on to it.

"Success!" Charlie exclaimed softly.

She unlocked herself from the cell after a few random tries of the keys. She then remembered the ring on her finger. Leon said he'll know where she will be by tracking the ring down. Hopefully he'll come get her soon enough. Now all she has to do is find a hiding place and wait there till Leon finds her.

Therefore, she started to exit the dungeon through the door at the other end of the dungeon.

Back to Leon, he finally managed to out run the hoard of zombies from the village. He was now checking his tracking device on his communicator. It seemed as if Charlie is moving around the castle from one location to the next. He then, made his way to the castle.

Outside the perimeter of the castle, there were several of Steax's guards in black cloaks. Leon snuck up to one of them and killed it silently. He then wore the cloak which was made from a velvety-like material with its hoods up and followed the rest of them to the castle's main gate. Leon did this because he needed disguise himself in order to get into the castle.

The main door of the castle dropped down as they neared it and acts as a bridge for them as they crossed over the swamp that surrounds the castle. They went through the main hall and up a set of stairs. Slowly, Leon dispatched himself from the crowd without being noticed.

Leon then took out his communicator to track down Charlie's location which stopped at the level three of the castle.

Charlie was hiding behind a thick red curtain in one of the hallways she randomly picked. She felt safe behind it. Well, safer than standing outside like an idiot exposing herself. She is no chameleon. So, she waited there until her rescuer-came.

Leon hurried up the stairwell to the third level of the castle. He walked through a few hallways until he was at the same hallway as Charlie was. He paused momentarily as he searched for her

"Charlie! Where are you?" he whispered loudly.

The curtains on the right side of the hallway suddenly moved. And no sooner after that, Charlie emerged from behind it with a relieved smile on her face.

"Oh, it's you!" Charlie said happily as she ran to Leon.

"Glad to see you're alright, kid," Leon said to her.

"Yes, me too. So, how do we get out of this castle without getting slaughtered?"

A little bit surprised by Charlie's straightforward thinking, he answered,

"Well, according to the castle's map, the only way for us to exit the castle is by going through its sewer underneath the castle. It will lead us back to the village, and then back up will once again come for us," explained Leon. "Sounds good?" he asked.

Charlie nodded and said, "Good enough."

They then started to make their way to the underground sewer with Leon's communicator as a map to their only hope of escaping the castle. However, they still had to pass several obstacles such as the castle guards that frequently came walking through doors after doors, performing their role as guards basically.

Fortunately for them, they were able to avoid getting caught. And towards the end, they succeeded to get to the sewer. They were in a tunnel-like area where muddy water flows in between two walkway. Without further hesitation, they went in deeper into the dark sewer with Charlie using her torch light and Leon using the mini flashlight installed on his communicator which worked rather effectively. It illuminates a big circular light along the walkway. Corners after corners they turned into until they eventually reached a diversion on the walkway. One leading straight ahead whiles the other one leading to a corner on the left. Following Leon's map, they took the right walkway.

Suddenly, as they were walking along, the walkway started to rattle vigorously. They stopped dead in their tracks. It shook so badly that Leon had to hold on to Charlie to avoid her from getting thrown off the walkway and into the muddy water. The walkway then stopped rattling.

"What was that? " Charlie whispered weakly.

Leon didn't answer her. Instead his eyes focused on the figure that slowly emerged in front of them as it enters the circular light of Leon's mini flashlight. The air suddenly smelled of rotten egg. As the figure entered the light, it was seen that it was a disfigured human who was almost two feet high and an extended tail which swished swiftly behind it. The flesh at its abdomen was gone, exposing its torso. The second Leon's flashlight reached its face; it roared a deafening roar causing both Leon and Charlie to cover their ears.

"Charlie, run!" Leon shouted as he took out his hand gun. Just as he was aiming for its face, the creature jumped over him and went after Charlie.

Leon immediately chased after it. He was determined not to let it get to Charlie. Leon managed to shoot its legs and back. It squealed in pain, but did not stop its pace.

"Leon, help!" Charlie screamed as she was eventually at a dead end. The creature loomed over her.

Leon quickly shot it again but this time, in its head. The beast roared in pain and turned around to face Leon. Just as it turned around, it swished its tail directly at Charlie.

"Charlie, watch out!" Leon cried out to Charlie. Too late. It hit her and sent her flying to the other end of the sewer.

"Damn it, let's finish this buster" Leon said between gritted teeth and threw a hand grenade directly in the beast's mouth. He quickly ran for cover as the creature exploded. 'BOOOM!'


	8. First encounter

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 7

"AARGH!" screamed Charlie as she fell from the walkway and landed with a loud thud on the hard cement floor. She landed in a big empty room with only a curtain on one side.

"Ouch…" she said while rubbing her sore bum. A second after she recovered from her pain, Charlie heard a loud explosion. "Leon…" she thought, looking up at the walkway she was thrown off from. It was dark, so she could only listen to the sound of Leon battling the demonic creature. There is no way she can get back up there to Leon.

Instead, she got up and began to walk towards the tall velvet curtain hanging on the left side of the room.

"Weird, I thought we were underground." Charlie thought to herself as she stepped closer to the curtain.

She pulled the curtain open and something gleamed at her so brightly, causing her to squint. It was surprisingly a crimson gem sitting innocently on a pedestal. Awed by its beauty, Charlie automatically reached for it as she was captivated by it. As her finger touches the smooth gem stone, the whole room began to vibrate as a gale-force wind suddenly seeped through the sordid dungeon-like room.

Her whole body started to lift from the ground. Through her squinted eyes she could see that the whole room was spinning. There were a lot of voices passing through her ears which sounded more like whispered words of different kinds. She started to lose her sight as her head was getting heavier by the second. However words keep pounding through her ears.

'…_.you are the chosen one…a Lightwood…heritage of the stone…must guard it…protect….your responsibility…..you are the chosen one, Charlotte Crimson Evans…"_

And with the final eight words, her sight went pitch black.

Leon, who was watching the whole scene from the sewer hole, quickly jumped down into the room to catch Charlie just as the wind started to subside leaving her to fall onto the hard stony ground. Luckily, he managed to catch Charlie or the consequence would be serious head injury for her. Her body was limp in Leon's arm, but her chest was moving up and down at a normal rate, showing that she's fine.

Out of the corner of Leon's eye, he noticed that the ground beneath him began to shake and it started to go down in a circular motion. With Charlie still in his arms, he was aware of the sudden chill in the atmosphere just as the ground beneath them reached the bottom level of the room. Leon definitely sensed danger in every nerve of his body.

The area was dark, only light from the level above shone on them. They were like sitting ducks underneath the light, a hopeless prey that just waits for its predator to come forth to rip them to shreds. Ironically, before Leon could react a dozen robed men came towards them from all direction and knocked him out in one swift motion. They moved fast, and the job was done.

**A few hours later…**

Bright lights seeped through her eye lids as she awoken from her unintended slumber. Charlie managed to open her eyes and realized she was in some sort of laboratory. A lamp was placed directly on top of her, causing her to squint as she surveyed the room.

Charlie groaned as she tried to get up from where she was lying down. Her head felt heavy as if she just had a hang over, not that she has been drunk before. After being lucid enough, she also realized that not only was she strapped with a metal bar onto a table, but there was also a man in the room with his back to her.

He turned to face her at the sound of her groaning. The man had slick black hair combed to the back and his eyes glinted dangerously as it met hers.

"Ah, Miss Evans, good to know that you're finally awake. I apologize for not greeting my guests earlier. Welcome to my lair," said the man as he walked towards her with a syringe in hand.

There was something oddly different from the way he walked. He moved in long jagged strides. Like a tiger coming towards its prey. Charlie shivered. It was inhumane. He stopped at the side of the table and cast his reptilian eyes upon her face. The syringe was then jabbed into her fore arm and cold liquid was felt as it flows through her body. It burnt throughout her veins, causing Charlie to groan with agony.

"Who are you? And where's Leon?!" Charlie exclaimed as she twitched on the table in pain.

"I'm Benjamin Steax. And your pesky friend is being acquainted with my prototype, down in the dungeon," said Steax as he lingered along the table. "You know, this really brings back old memories. Of your mother, that is. How you look so much like her," he said as he stopped next to her and held her chin to inspect her face more thoroughly.

This however caused Charlie's heart to skip a beat at the mention of her mother. The burning sensation suddenly stopped. Leaving only sweat to trickled down her forehead. She opened her mouth to ask how he knew her mother, but only managed a whisper.

"How do you know my mother?"

"You see, your mother had something I want. No, scratch that. Something I need. And coincidentally enough, she was in your exact position eight years ago,"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked weakly as she was still feeling fuzzy.

"It means, you happened to have what she had. But I hope your fate won't be the same as hers," Steax paused momentarily. "But I doubt it."

The gear in her head was starting to put the pieces to Steax's words together. However, before she could figure it out, he suddenly pulled her face towards his roughly, his anger suddenly showing through his slit of iris. Charlie winced as the muscle in her neck was stretch.

"Did you really think your mother, died in a freak accident?! Her life ended here, because I, genius Benjamin Steax killed her right in this very room!" he whispered harshly, letting go of her face and let out a sinister laugh. "Now for the second injection, and who knows, maybe you'll reunite with your mother." Steax said as he turned around to get the second syringe.

Charlie stopped breathing; processing what she just heard. Rage was boiling up in her now. With both her fists tightly balled up, the metal straps around her rattled as she tried to break free.

Steax, who noticed this, turned to face her and was startled to see Charlie's eyes. Her ocean blue eyes were suddenly illuminating orange light. Her irises were unseen as it glowed orange. "What the-"

"AAAGH!" Steax shouted as he was thrown to the back of the laboratory; where the rows of computers were. Charlie who managed to break the metal straps threw him with a force that came out from both her palm. She didn't even know how she did that. But it was instinct. He landed on the rows of computer; knocking down his experiment table he was earlier along with all the chemicals on it. Therefore, he was electrocuted as it spilled all over the computers. His body lay unmoved.

Charlie went over to inspect his body. He looked pretty dead to her. As she turned to leave, she saw a file on the floor that had her mother's maiden name on it. '_Lucylia Lightwood'_

"I have to find Leon," thought Charlie as she recovered from her own shock.


	9. Saved

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 8

The metal grating screeched as the guards opened it which caused Leon to wake up. He rubbed his sore head as he tried to get up and realized he was in a cell. He got up from the stony ground and was immediately seized by the guards who came into his cell. Leon's hands were brought to the back and it was tied together with a rope.

He was semi-dragged by the guards towards the dungeon's arena. The gate opened before them and he was thrown into the arena, landing on his side. The gate dropped back down with a loud thud. And he was alone.

Leon got up and another gate, opposite from the one he entered started to lift up. No sooner than that, an ear splitting screech was heard.

"Please, not another monster," Leon whispered to himself.

Not sooner after that, a spider-like creature appeared from behind the gate. It looked like a mutated woman, as its long black hair was seen on top of its tiny head. The beast screeched once more.

"Just my luck," Leon muttered sarcastically as he dodged the toxic the creature started spitting at him.

Leon kept avoiding the toxic by sprinting away from it. That is, until it charged at him. It was fast as its size was big. The creature managed to knock Leon down with one of its legs. Leon fell on his face, and just as he turned to get up, the creature was already on top of him, ready to stab him with the serrated blade at the end of its hind leg.

His sight was suddenly illuminated by an orange ray. The ray however, produces a strong force, that even Leon got pushed away slightly. The creature squealed in pain. And it was eventually, silenced. The orange ray disappeared and Leon was able to see who his rescuer was. But to his surprise, it was non other than Charlie herself was the one who saved him.

"Are you okay, Leon?" Charlie asked as she came to him after the creature subsided.

"Terrific," Leon replied sarcastically and rolled to his side.

"Here, let me help you with that," Charlie said indicating the rope that tied Leon's hands together.

But before she could finish doing so, the stomach of the creature suddenly burst open and unleashed hundreds of tiny crawling centipedes in one shot.

"Charlie, watch out!" Leon warned her.

Charlie, who was still fumbling with the rope, quickly drew out both her palms and aimed it at the swarming centipedes. The orange ray shot out from both her palms and burnt the centipedes. Nothing was left accept for a pile of ashes.

Charlie's body suddenly gave in and she dropped to her knees and coughed blood out. Leon, whose rope was loose, thanks to Charlie, managed to reach into his pocket for his knife which he used to cut through the rope to free himself. He then went over to Charlie.

"What happened to you?" Leon asked as he held her shoulders to stable her.

"Steax injected some kind of liquid into my body. But I broke free before he could inject the second syringe which he said could-"

"Finish you off." Leon finished her sentence.

"Yes. He killed my mother, Leon! And he said I happen to have what she had before she passed away..." Charlie said as she placed her head on his shoulders.

Leon's thoughts were wondering if the syringe Steax injected in her contained the T-virus. Or was it just some other chemical substance meant to extract the power she has, by taking her life away.

"Listen, Charlie. Since when did you have super powers? Because I think that's what he's after all this time," Leon asked as he brought her face back up.

"I don't know, Leon. I'm just as confused as you are about it."

"And how did you escape him?"

"I threw him off and he got electrocuted as he landed on his computers with the chemicals spilled, and everything. It was a mess,"

"Huh, pretty impressive. Glad that you're okay,"

"Do you think he's dead?"

"I doubt it. The bad guys are always hard to die,"

"Yeah, I thought so too,"

"The injustice of life," they said at the same time as they sat down next to each other.

**Later...**

As they were going down several corridors, Charlie suddenly has the feeling that she has to find out how this nightmare would end. After all, it's about her past. She wanted to know the truth about her mother, her father, and her whole family. There's very little that she knows about them. Aunt Trudy kept avoiding answering her questions related to her mother every time she asked. And she thought this was due to her being sad about her sister's death. So, she never pushes it.

"Hey, Leon..." Charlie asked pausing to look at him.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" Leon said as he too stopped walking and looked at her.

"As much as I want to leave this place, can I please follow you until the end? I have to know the truth about my family." Charlie begged him with pleading eyes.

"Negative, kid. It's too dangerous. And I can't afford to let you turn into a zombie too," Leon replied as he shrugged off her pleading face and started to move again.

"But you are weaponless. All your firearms are gone. And I can help protect you with whatever it is, that's in my body!" Charlie called after him.

"I have my plans. And one of it is to get you out of here safely. It's my job." Leon explained.

With that in mind, Charlie gave up. She knew it would be hard to persuade an agent, especially one with a mission. But it was worth a try. After all, life and death will determine the end of this nightmare.

They continue down the corridor until they encounter a large door. With Leon at one side of the door, he signaled Charlie to go to the other side just incase there was an ambush on the other side of the door. Leon then opened the door.


	10. Ghost

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 9

Fortunately for them, they entered an empty dining hall. It was huge and had candles on both side of the walls. A big old-fashion looking chandelier hung above the room. The place looked as if it was set up a few decades ago since the plates and cup were all placed on the table and looked untouched. There was a door at the other end of the room. Leon was the first to walk into the room with Charlie tailing behind him.

"Wow… this place is so quiet," Charlie said as she observed the nicely set forks and plates on the long tables.

"Too quiet," Leon commented back.

Leon jogged towards the door, opposite, from where they came in and found it locked. He turned around to tell Charlie, but was shocked to find Charlie was not alone. Leon can't help it but to stare at it in horror. He could not believe his eyes on what he was looking at.

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" Charlie asked, bewildered by his sudden starring.

Without Charlie realizing it, a figure stood behind her. It was dwarf-like creature, no taller than a five-year-old child. However, its feet weren't touching the ground and it was floating directly behind Charlie's head. It also had a broken wine bottle in its hand.

"Charlie, duck!" Leon shouted across the room just in time as the creature swung the broken wine bottle at Charlie's head.

Luckily, Charlie had fast reflexes and dodged the swinging bottle just in time. She rolled on the floor, escaping the injury she might have gotten. The creature, raged by the interruption, quickly charged towards Leon instead.

The creature was fast, for such a small size. Leon barely managed to avoid the swinging bottle the creature attacked him with. He had to jumped over the tables, smashing the dishware as he did so. And Charlie was right. Without his guns, it is almost impossible to kill this half dwarf, half ghost creature.

"Okay, stop already!" Charlie suddenly screamed at the ghost.

Leon was startled and not only because she screamed, but the fact that the creature actually listened to her as it stopped in its tracks.

"We have gone through enough. We already encountered zombies, monsters, mutated insects and now this; a bloody ghost?! Oh, come one! Give us a break! It's not our fault that the insane owner of this castle holds you captive here. It's him; you should go after, not us!" Charlie rambled on.

Surprisingly, it worked. The creature straight away dropped the half broken bottle and flew through the walls, leaving them in peace. Not sooner after that, the sound of a lock unlocking was heard.

Leon looked at Charlie's flustered face and said, "Are you thinking, what I'm thinking?"

Charlie just nodded, out of breath from her sudden out burst. Her face was still red. Both of them headed towards the door, as just as they assumed, the door was unlocked, thanks to their little friend.

"Before we enter, I just wanted to say that I don't know what to believe in anymore. And whatever else we're going to find in there, I'm ready for it," Charlie said as she held her hand over the door.

"Believe you me," Leon said.

And after understanding one another better, they set themselves for the next chapter of their horrific journey.

They went through the door and found themselves raiding a set of stairs. As they were heading up, Leon checked his communicating device. It wasn't working ever since he got knock down and was brought down to the dungeon. That's why he hadn't been able to contact Tia so far.

"Damn it," Leon muttered.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked.

"I haven't been able to get a signal ever since I entered this castle,"

"That is bad,"

"Let's hope I'll be able to get a signal once we're on higher level,"

They reached the top of the spiral stairs and went through the door there. It opened up into yet another deserted hallway. As they walked along it, they found a door that looked unlike the rest. Its door was white and metallic. And it had the Umbrella Corporation logo on it.

"Let's go inside, I may find some firearms," Leon said to Charlie as he opened the door slowly and finding it empty.

They went into the room, shutting the door slowly as they did so. The room was white from floor to ceiling and it was very spacious. However, it looked like a stalker's den since there were pictures of Charlie everywhere. Some were pinned on boards, while others were strewn across the long study table. The same Umbrella logo they saw on the door was displayed as a screen saver on the computer sitting on top the study table. Leon quickly went through the cupboards and drawers in search of firearms. Luckily, there was a machine gun and several of its magazines. He also found a hand gun and its bullets. After that, he headed to the computer and started tapping vigorously across its keyboard.

"Were they looking for me all this time?" Charlie asked weakly as she looked at all of her pictures hung around the room.

There was a picture of her when she was twelve, of her getting into her uncle's car, of her walking to school, of her eating at an ice cream parlor, and of her at so many different times. Charlie was astonished by it. Her eyes finally landed on the Umbrella logo.

"As a matter of fact, you were tracked down ever since you were eight years old by Umbrella," Leon replied as he read the documents on the computer.

"What is Umbrella, anyway? Is it what the logo on the door represents?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. Umbrella Corporation is a bioengineering pharmaceutical company. It was founded in 1968 by Lord Ozwell E. Spencer, Sir Edward Ashford and Dr. James Marcus at the corporation's Raccoon City facilities while he maintained control over the company for the next thirty years. Later, Umbrella had multiple research facilities and various research being done on various bioweapon viruses such as the G-virus and T-virus which I think Steax is playing with right now," Leon replied as he gave her a brief history about the Umbrella Corporation.

"Is that the virus that is contaminating Raymark City now?"

"Yes it is,"

"And what does it have to do with me?" Charlie asked quizzically.

"It says here that you seem to have the ability to unleash the power of the Crimson Stone, which you did. I think Steax's motif was to get the power inside your body and use it so he could combine it with the T-virus." Leon explained and suddenly stopped momentarily as the sound of foot steps was heard.

"Quick, hide!" Leon whispered to Charlie. And they both hid behind the long study table.

They waited a few moments until the sound of the door opening was heard. However, the person who entered the room was no other than, Jeff Acker. He was wearing his lab coat.

Surprised, Leon used the gun he just obtained and went out of his hiding place with his gun raised to Jeff's face.

"Alright, spill it. What's your story?" Leon asked carefully.

Jeff was startled and said, "Oh, my lord. I'm so glad I found you Kennedy. I knew you would be somewhere around here," with his hands up as a sign of surrender at the sight of Leon's gun.

"I know this may look bad in my defense, but I was forced to do it," Jeff continued.

"Forced to do what?" Leon asked as he circled him.

"You see, I'm one of the best scientists in this country. And Steax asked me to work for him or else my family, back in Tennessee will pay the consequences.

"And how do I know if I can trust your words, Acker?"

"Listen, I'm just a man who wants to protect his family and nothing more. And I happen know a way out."

Leon looked at him hard. He was deciding whether he should trust him or not. There weren't any other choices left. He had to since it was impossible to find a way out with him, lacking the weapons he needed.

"And why did you bailed on us earlier?" Leon responded after taking a few moments to think it through.

"I got a message from Steax, telling me to get to the castle immediately. I didn't want to drag you along into this mess so I thought by leaving you and that girl immediately, I could spare you guys," Jeff explained.

A plan formed in his mind and he said, "Alright then. Where's the secret exit?"

"Right this way," Jeff answered and moved toward one particular cupboard after Leon lowered his gun. He opened it to reveal a hidden lift inside it.

"Charlie, you can come out now," Leon called out to Charlie.


	11. Twisted truth

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 10

As they went inside the elevator, it started to go down. Charlie's heart beat irregularly. She had a bad feeling about it. She glanced up to see Jeff's face, only to find him smiling apologetically back at her. Her stomached felt heavy, like the feeling you have when riding a roller coaster just as it drops from the peak. And as for Leon, he knew this wasn't going to end well but he was ready for it and he just hopes that this risky choice he took would be right one.

The elevator stopped as they reached the bottom. The door opened and they found themselves in a laboratory. It was white just as the room before, but much bigger. The place was filled with everything that you can find in a normal laboratory, but much more high-tech. There were several metal gates lined up at one side of the lab. There were also turrets hung above them like a chandelier. The lab had only one exit door, which was opposite from the metal cages.

"Well, here we are," Steax said as he got off the elevator. "Your exit in that door on the right there," he said as went behind one of the tables and looked at them gravely.

"But you're not going to let us through aren't you?" Leon responded simply.

"Exactly," Steax replied and the room fell into a deadly silence, awkward and calculated.

"What?!" Charlie said breaking the silence. How could Leon let them enter a trap so easily.

"You're the one who's behind all this tedious disasters, weren't you? And not Steax,"

"Bravo, bravo! Mr. Kennedy," Jeff said as he clapped his hands together. "I'm impressed. You figured it out before I could tell you myself. No wonder they called you as one of the best agent BSAA has ever had,"

"However, you're slightly wrong there Kennedy. Because not only is Benjamin Steax my subordinate, but he is also my younger brother. Yes, I'm the older sibling and my name is actually Chester Steax,"

"You mean to tell us that Jeff Acker doesn't even exist and it was all nothing but a lie?" Charlie suddenly asked, outraged by the traitorous act before her eyes.

"No, no. Jeff Acker existed alright. But he is long dead, along with his family. I had the gratitude of reuniting them, you know." Chester said as he paced around the room gradually.

"You're nothing but a sick maniac!" Leon shouted.

"I'll take that as a compliment. You see, my brother and I were assigned by Umbrella Corporation to discover a new enhancement to upgrade the T-virus eight years ago. And after our hard work investigating, we found out about the Lightwood family, and the special power they had in their blood; the crimson power. It was said that to every descendent, only one child for each generation will obtain the power. We tracked it down until we discovered the present generation who carried the blood; your mother, Luculia Evans. We caught her, but out of our expectations, she so smartly transferred her power into this stone you see," Chester paused momentarily to indicate to the gem hanging around his neck as a necklace. "That is, before she drew out her final breath. And in order to unleash it, only the next descendent who has reached the optimum age can do it."

"And that's me?" Charlie asked wearily.

"Of course it's you Miss Evans, since you're the only child of Lucylia and Joshua Evans," Chester replied and gave her a sinister smile. "And now finally, after waiting for eight years for you to grow up, I can finally obtain the power within you weak and useless body!" he exclaimed and gave her a sinister smile that showed his immaculate rows of perfect teeth.

Leon and Charlie looked at each other as if trying to reassure one another about what was to come.

"Now, enough chit chat. I have things to do," Chester said and he pulled down one of the levers on the table.

One of the metal gates was raised, and a snarling sound was heard.

"Hey Charlie, remember my brother?" Chester said as the Benjamin Steax came out of the metal gate. "And I didn't even have to do much, thanks to you."

He was completely deformed. Instead of walking on two legs, like a normal human, he was walking on four. His body grew to five times bigger than the original size and he had a canine out look to his image. And Charlie what happened to him back in his lab, where Charlie threw him off over his chemical table.

"Ah!" Charlie screamed as Steax charged at her at a hell of a speed and managed to take a bite of her jacket. Charlie quickly unzipped her jacket and took it off as she ran to the other side of the lab.

Leon started shooting at him with his newly obtained machine gun. But there was not much effect since the beast only shrugged off the bullets that penetrated into him as if it were just mosquito bites.

"Do you think I would make my brother that fragile, Kennedy?" Chester called out from where he was; a safe distance away from the fight. "Guns won't help you that much!" he finished and started laughing.

Leon's brain started to operate. He needed something big and heavy to crush the beast. He scanned the laboratory and saw the turrets that hung above them. He had an idea. Leon went to the beast, and shot it in the eyes to distract it. Fortunately it worked. The beast averted his attention towards Leon instead. It chased after him. Leon ran past underneath the turrets, and quickly turned around to shoot the metal chains holding the turrets up just in time as when the beast was under it. The chain broke and the turret fell directly on Steax. The impact caused the turret to explode and the place was filled with smoke.

"How dare you!" Chester's angry voice was heard as he appeared on top of the rubble that dropped down from the ceiling.

Leon searched for Charlie as the smoke cleared away, only to find her at laying at one end of the lab, unconscious due to the explosion.

"Charlie!" Leon called out to her.

"Quiet, Kennedy!" Chester shouted at him. "This is getting personal. Nobody kills a Steax. Nobody kills my brother!" he shouted with anger.

Chester than took off his lab coat and his shirt, revealing something moving up and down in his body. He shouted in pain as tentacles suddenly burst out of both his arms, as he too transformed into a monster. His mouth was stretched open as a yellow eye ball came out through his esophagus. His body was turned inside out, and his flesh was seen clearly, with blood dripping from every part of his body.

"No more mercy!" the monster shouted with a mutated voice. And then it roared loud enough, to drive somebody insane.


	12. Final Battle

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 11

Leon managed to dodge just in time as one of Chester's tentacles swayed at him. He rolled onto the floor. Chester grew into a size that was as big as a whale and was surprising slow in his movements. Only his tentacles moved dangerously fast. Thankfully, Leon was good in acrobatics. He dodged tentacles after tentacles as Chester tried to get a hold of him, to bring him into a crushing death.

He decided to bring down the other turret down. Charlie who was lying down behind the previous rubble would be safe from the second explosion. Leon aimed at the metal chains and shot it like he did before. It came down directly on top of Steax. The explosion was the same as before, and Leon managed to duck behind some tables to shield him from the impact

The explosion caused Chester's tentacles to fly off in every direction as it detached itself from his body. However, seconds after the explosion, Chester burst out of the rubble he was buried into, unharmed. But it was mad and let out another bone-chilling roar. He regenerated his lost tentacles within seconds, and charged after Leon.

"Impossible," Leon muttered under his breath.

Charlie suddenly awoken as the ground beneath her shook due to the impact of the second turret. She opened her eyes and coughed. The place was full of smoke. Charlie managed to muster enough energy to get up. As the scene unfolds in front of her ocean blue eyes, she felt the energy vibrating throughout her body. It felt good. It made her feel energized.

"Agh!" Leon shouted as he was thrown to the wall by Chester. He landed on the pieces of rocks that littered the once spotless laboratory floor.

Without wasting anymore time, Charlie ran towards Chester at a surprising fast speed and burnt one of his tentacles with her orange ray. Chester roared in pain and attempted to hit her with his other tentacle but Charlie duck just in time to dodge it. Leon, who recovered from his fall, sneaked up behind Chester while he was fighting with Charlie. He climbed behind his back, and quickly Stab the yellow eyed that was Chester only source of sight. Chester let out an ear splitting screeched as he was in pain. Taking advantage of the distraction, Charlie quickly went up to Chester's heart which was on the outside of its body.

"You wanted my powers so badly. So, here!" Charlie said and she produced a large amount of orange ray the flowed out through her arms and into her palm. It burnt Chester's heart into ashes.

Chester roared and roared until the roaring turned into a moan and he was dead. His giant body landed on his line of computer. However, one of his tentacles managed to push down the castle's self-destruct button.

"The building will self-destruct in five minutes," A computer voice suddenly said as the alarms went off. The count down suddenly appeared on one of the laboratory's wide computer screen.

"We got to get out of here!" Charlie shouted at Leon over the noise of the alarm.

"Head to the door!" Leon shouted back as he indicated the only door to exit the laboratory.

Both of them sprinted towards it just as the ground beneath them started to shake. Luckily, Chester wasn't lying when he said the door led out to the main hall of the castle, where the main entrance was. There were two wheels at each side of the door that lets the castle door up and down.

"Quick, get to the other wheel." Leon said to Charlie. They had to roll the castle door down so that they can exit the castle.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of castle guards at the main hall, who was alerted by the alarm. "Shoot them in the head," Leon said as he handed Charlie the hand gun he took earlier as he drew out his machine gun.

Charlie didn't need much explanation for the gun. She knew enough to know what she had to do with it. They made their way to the wheels by shooting the castle guards who blocked their way.

They made it to the wheels, each of them taking one side. Leon signaled her to roll it down and she did, together with him. The castle door instantly dropped down as it was heavy. Both Leon and Charlie ran across the door which now acts as a bridge over the swamp below. However, the castle guards too followed them and managed to grab Charlie. Leon turned around and said,

"Move your head," as he aimed for the guard's head.

Charlie did as she was told and blood splattered on her face as Leon shot the guard who was holding her in the face. She was then free to run. They sprinted across the bridge, away from the hordes of zombies chasing behind them with just seconds to spare before the castle explodes.

BOOOM! The bomb went off and sent and explosion loud enough to alert the whole country. The bomb went off just as Charlie and Leon was nearing the end of the bridge but the blast from the explosion sent them flying whilst destroying the whole lot of zombies behind them as the bridge broke, bringing them along to their final destination.

They landed on the ground just outside the fences that circled the perimeter of the castle.

"Are you alright?" Leon asked as he removed his hand from her head that was shielding it from the explosion.

"I don't know," Charlie replied simply and turned to face his face on the ground.

Leon was the first to get up. He struggled a bit into a sitting position as his right thing was deeply injured.

"Oh, no. How do you feel?" she asked after she saw the cut he had.

"Like a million bucks," Leon replied.

Charlie just shook off his sarcasm and tore her shirt sleeve.

"Here, it can help stop the bleeding," she offered the piece of clothing innocently.

"Thanks," Leon said and took the material from her. "You know, you're not that bad as a companion," said Leon as he tied the material over his cut.

"Finally approving my presence in your mission, huh?" Charlie replied.

Leon just gave her an appreciating smile just as his communicator beeped.

"Leon! Are you okay? I've been trying to get a hold of you since hours ago. But I couldn't get through," Tia said as she appeared on the screen.

"It is okay, Tia. I guess it's safe to say they mission completed thanks to little help," Leon said as he glanced sideways towards Charlie.

"Good to know, Leon. There's a chopper flying above the island now, I'll let them get you at your current position," Tia said before she disappeared from the screen.

Seconds after that, the sound of the chopper's blades were heard.

"Are you ready to go home?" Leon asked Charlie just as the chopper dropped down its rope ladder.

"More than ever," She said as she let out a relieved sigh.

They climbed aboard the chopper and flew over the destroyed castle. Nothing remains of the dark and evil intentions the castle was used for. Only remnants were seen over the mess of rubble that was once a castle of destruction. The chopper went passed it and flew off into the sunset.


	13. Five years

THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 12

FIVE YEARS LATER…

Charlie took a deep breath as she walk through the doors of the BSAA building. She was wearing a black vest over her long sleeve shirt over her black slack pants. She though it was formal enough for her first appointment with the BSAA director. Her heels made loud and defined clicks as she walked to the receptionist's counter and told the receptionist what her purpose for being there was. The girl behind the counted called one of the departments to mention her arrival and to confirm it before, telling Charlie which floor she had to go to for her appointment.

"Okay, thanks." Charlie said and she made her way to the lift. The receptionist quickly phoned the other workers to inform them about her arrival.

Without her knowing it, she was making history that day. She is the youngest person to land a spot as an agent in BSAA. BSAA don't choose over people to act as their agents easily. Only highly trained professionals were chosen by them. And only they walk the halls of the building.

Once inside the lift, she pressed down the number 14 button. She waited patiently as the elevator went up to the fourteenth floor. The door slid open to a hall. It was huge. She made her way to the secretary's desk.

"Excuse me, I'm Charlie Evans here to see Mr. John Clarks," Charlie told the secretary.

The secretary looked up at her and said, "He's waiting for you,"

Charlie's stomach gave out butterflies, even though she knew she wasn't late. But she was nervous. She braced herself and pushed the door to the office open, and walked in.

The office was big and a man sat behind the big oak desk with the back of the chair facing her.

"Er, Mr. Clarks? You wanted to see me?" Charlie asked nervously. She can't help it.

To her utter surprise, the chair spun around to revealed no other than Leon S. Kennedy. He was smirking at her and said,

"Way to go for professionalism,"

"Y-you! Where is Mr. Clarkson?" She stuttered the question, obviously embarrassed.

"There's one thing you should know when working here, Charlie. You got to earn to see Mr. Clark. He's a very busy man, you see." Leon said as he got up from his seat.

"But he wanted to see me,"

"Yes, he did. That's why he sent me here to deliver the good news to you,"

"What good news?" Charlie asked, stumped.

"You got into BSAA. The pre- test and test you took showed excellent scores. Your interview was also good,"

"Shut up! Seriously, I managed to get in?!" Charlie squealed excitedly as she started jumping up and down, in her heels.

Leon was amused from her reaction. She still had loads to learn before she could actually become a real agent. After all, she is just twenty-one, which was pretty young to be an agent.

"But under one condition," Leon said shushing her out of her joyful moment. "I will be your mentor until you actually achieve enough achievements to go out on your own."

"So, I'm still under training?" She asked sadly.

"You're a rookie agent, kid." Leon said and winked at her playfully. "Congratulations."


	14. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Like I said before, you'll never know what's going to happen in your life. I became an agent or in other words, a cop even though I've been so mute throughout my whole life. The incident that happened five years ago had shed a new light in my life. I was starting to know apart of me that I never knew exist. I was starting to know my self and my history better. My aunt and uncle was safe, incase you were wondering. I met up with them after the BSAA confirmed I was free of any T-virus infections.

Without Leon noticing, I have taken the crimson stone from Chester Steax when I was fighting his demonic form. I didn't tell him yet because I am afraid he'll take it away. That stone is a part of my mother and my mother is a part of me. I am not ready to give it in yet. After a gemstone can't be much harm, can it?

However, I haven't given up on finding the truth of my family's past. With the help of BSAA, I have been trained well. I intend to use this newly found power on mine to find out everything I can about my family's history. The crimson power I discovered has been trained as well at this new facility. The future seems like a snow glob in my hands now that I'm seeing it in a new perspective because I am no longer afraid of it. I am ready to undertake Umbrella Corporation with my newly found power.


End file.
